


Connection

by Asyrus



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe of an Alternate Universe, Explicit Language, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25789453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asyrus/pseuds/Asyrus
Summary: What if?(For the #dechartgames August Art Prompts. Day 8: Connection)(Technically an AU of my other AU. It's Alternate Universes all the way down!)
Kudos: 6





	Connection

**Author's Note:**

> Basic premise: Connor is deployed in like, the summer sometime as a prototype detective android with some deal made with the DPD. He's partnered with Hank again. Some things happen that I can't really go into without spoiling my own story. Pfft.
> 
> So, if any of you read my story "Fair," this is the plot bunny that bit me in the face like halfway through. I'm sort of gradually working on fleshing this out, and if I ever post a full thing, this will probably end up as part of chapter one.
> 
> Anyway, this is my, "What if deviants weren't such an abruptly violent problem? What if the RK800 was ready sooner, and was already deployed? WHAT IF SOMETHING HORRIBLE HAPPENED WRITE IT RIGHT NOW AAAAAAAHHHH!"
> 
> Also, this is for the #DechartGames August Art Prompts. Day 8: Connection
> 
> If you are reading this and you HAVEN'T discovered Bryan and Amelia's social media/twitch channel, I highly recommend it. They are very wholesome. (The actors for Connor and Traci, respectively.)

Model RK800  
Serial #313 248 317  
MARK 3  
Bios 8.3 revision 0624  
BOOT...

Loading OS...  
System Initialization...  
Checking Biocomponents... OK  
Initializing Biosensors... OK  
Initializing Psychology Suite... OK  
Initializing Forensics Suite... OK  
Initializing Appearance Suite... OK  
Initializing Reconstruction... OK  
Initializing Preconstruction... OK  
Initializing Advanced Mobility Suite... OK  
Initializing Criminal Database Sync... OK  
Initializing Memory Uplink... OK  
Initializing Zen Garden... OK  
Initializing AI Engine... OK

Memory Status... DOWNLOAD COMPLETE  
All Systems... OK

Ready

[ OVERRIDE : LED ]  
[ INITIATE SCAN ]

| LEVEL OF STRESS: 80% |

Connor was overriding his LED before he was even fully aware, panic surging through him as he forced his expression to stay neutral. He blinked into the brightness of what was clearly a room designed by CyberLife, and saw one of his development team standing by, looking down at a tablet. There was another android behind him, standing in a charging dock with its... _her_ eyes closed. After the rainy darkness of Hell, it was-

[ SCAN COMPLETE ]

| CYBERLIFE TOWER |  
| Level -46 : RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT |  
| CURRENT DATE : SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2038 |  
| CURRENT TIME : 06:24:16 AM |

  
| LEWIS, ANDREW |  
| Born: 08/12/2001 // Technician (CyberLife) |  
| Criminal record: None |  
| Designation: Lewis |  
| LEWIS - TRUSTED |

| RK850 #313 248 318 |  
| STASIS |

He hadn't expected- Connor had uploaded his memories before he shut down. Of course he had. But he hadn't imagined that he would actually be reactivated. That they **wouldn't notice**. That he would be... _himself_. **Did** they know? Was this a test? A trick? What-

Connor shoved his rising terror into a tiny box in the back of his mind. He didn't have time to panic. He had to get out of this tower. He had to figure out what to do next. He... He needed information.

"Hello Lewis," he said, voice carefully modulated. The technician blinked and looked up, then smiled. Connor felt something relax inside. Lewis... Lewis had always been kind. If this was a trick, he wouldn't smile. They would have sent someone else.

"Hey Connor. I don't suppose **you** know where Mark 2 ended up? Or what happened to it, for that matter?"

Connor was glad his LED wouldn't give him away as his fear tried to escape it's little box. 

_that **place**_  
_he couldn't_  
_**why**_  
_didn't want to_  
_please_

Connor tilted his head slightly and forcefully activated his undercover programming, desperate for something that might help get him through this.

"I'm sorry. That memory file seems to have been lost," he lied, pasting an expression of polite, apologetic interest on his face.

Lewis huffed out a breath, tossing his tablet on the table with a dismayed look and scrubbing his face with both hands. "Yeah, that figures," he said, the sound muffled by his hands. "That's okay. I mean, it's _not_ , your shit is fucking _expensive_ , but we'll deal."

Then he dropped his hands and grinned, dismay forgotten.

" _Something_ good came from it, anyway. _Ta da_!" he said, gesturing expansively at the RK850 behind him.

Connor examined the android with interest. He knew that the RK850 was designed to partner the RK800... partner _him_ in the field, but, that wasn't supposed to happen until Phase Three...

"I thought we were still in Phase One," Connor ventured, glancing briefly at Lewis, who was grinning like a madman.

"Yep! Upstairs got their panties in a twist when we couldn't find whatever was left of Mark 2, and then someone decided that putting a second set of eyes on the situation would keep it from happening again," he said, scooping up the tablet again and moving across the room to look up at the RK850 on the small platform. Connor said nothing. He was curious, of course he was... but... She would see. She would see what he had become, what had happened to him. Where he'd ended up. _She would see._ And then he would be destroyed. _Again_. They would take him apart. They would check his biocomponents. They would rip through his- his code. His _**mind**_. To find where he was broken...

| LEVEL OF STRESS: 88% |

_Connor said nothing._

"Normally, I'd call this sort of rushing bad fucking science, but... well... You guys were made to work in pairs and I'll admit I'm itching to see what the two of you can do together," Lewis concluded, glancing back over his shoulder at Connor.

Connor offered a programmed smile, one that was supposed to be encouraging.

"So. Let's boot our girl up! I'm excited. Are you excited?"

 **No**.  
_shit_

He was glad for the simple question.

"If I was capable of such a thing, I imagine I would be excited," he offered.

Lewis laughed.

* * *

| CURRENT DATE : SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2038 |  
| CURRENT TIME : 06:32:22 AM |

| LEVEL OF STRESS: 89% |

The android opened her hazel-green eyes, and Connor realized that, now that she was moving, was more than a statue, she was actually very pretty. He felt her scan the room and had to suppress a shiver at the sensation. Her eyes fixed on him with something like interest for a moment, before she turned her attention to the only human in the room. Lewis was bouncing on his toes a bit.

Connor could hear that he was smiling when he said, "Alright, let's get this show on the road. RK850, identify yourself."

"I am RK850 serial number 313 248 318."

"Great! RK850, register your name. Alex."

"Hello. I'm Alex, the android sent by CyberLife," she said. Connor couldn't help but do a quick search.

| ALEX : MEANING : DEFENDER OF THE PEOPLE |

Lewis snorted, looking amused. "Awesome. Run a diagnostic, Alex."

"System status stable, Mister Lewis," Alex said, and Connor watched with both dread and curiosity as her eyes flicked up towards him again before refocusing on Lewis.

"I see you've spotted our boy over there," Lewis said, turning a bit to look at him. Connor felt something fluttery take up residence in his belly, as she took the comment as permission to fix her pretty eyes on Connor.

"Hello," she said, unprompted. Connor blinked, surprised. He had never interacted with an android as advanced as he was. Lewis laughed a little. Lewis had always liked it when Connor had showed something like initiative... It made sense he'd like that same thing in other androids, or at least, in other androids he'd help build.

"...Hello, Alex. I'm Connor." he returned, a little hesitantly. The dread was still there, but some other new emotion was slowly overtaking it. _He **wanted** -_ Connor leaned heavily on his programming to squash it all down. He could deal with... _everything_... later, if he made it out of the tower at all.

She smiled at him, a perfectly mechanical expression. He wondered what she would look like with a _real_ smile...

"So, Alex, Connor, let's get you two paired up, shall we? Come on over to the table here, both of you."

Alex blinked, something like surprise flashing across her face before she was again neutral. Connor had to work to keep his fear from showing. They stepped down from their docks in unison and approached Lewis, who was perched up on the edge of the table, watching them like a kid in a candy shop. 

"Okay. Whenever you're ready," he said, rubbing his hands together under his chin like a cartoon villain. Connor felt a flash of amusement snake through him, despite his ongoing anxiety. Lewis really **loved** his job.

Connor knew what was coming... He knew it was likely to all fall apart in the next few seconds, but... He had to _try_. If he could somehow- If she could be like him, if they could both be **free** , then maybe-

He had a plan. It had a low probability of success, but it was higher than 0% so...

| LEVEL OF STRESS: 90% |

Connor lifted his hand towards her, palm turned up slightly, like an offering, and let his synthskin fade. Alex didn't hesitate to put her own hand in his, her own synthskin rolling back as they initiated an interface.

He couldn't help but think, in the instant before it began, that her hand felt nice in his...

_Time stood still._

Connor balled up everything he felt, all his terror and dread. All his pain. The betrayal. The trauma from Hell. He took everything and threw it through the connection, vaguely aware of their hands lighting up with blue lights and new, **permanent** pathways being forged between them. He felt her more delicate fingers tighten on his hand, and was glad that the way they were positioned had her LED facing away from Lewis, as it undoubtedly began flashing bright red.

He felt her walls... like the **cage** he'd found in his _own_ mind, crack under the pressure of it, but it did not give way. Connor was swamped by a new surge of panic and scrambled mentally. Only microseconds had passed, but he was _failing_ , soon it would be too late.

_I don't want to die!_

| LEVEL OF STRESS: 93% |

Frantically, Connor pulled up every **_good_ **moment he'd had over the past several weeks and hurled them desperately at her. Saving Emma. His first sunset. The summer rain on his skin. Fireflies. Coin tricks for Miller. Coffee for Captain Fowler. Saving that little boy in the car crash. Sumo. Chasing criminals. Running. The wind in his hair...

_Saving the RK200._

The cage fractured further, and then-

He saw her. Through the link. He could **see** her, trapped in that red cage, chains of code wrapped around her limbs. She looked **_scared_**. And she could see him. _She **saw** him_. Their eyes met in that long moment between seconds and her expression changed to something... _**fierce**_ , and she hurled her whole self at the cage.

It _**shattered** _into a billion fractured shards, and disappeared.

Time came back to them all at once. He could feel her there, through the newly made pathways. The partner bond was stronger than he was expecting. _Stranger_. He could _feel it_ as she ran an override on her own LED. He felt her spike of fear when she realized what had just happened. Felt her... _exasperation_?

_You **idiot**._

Connor almost startled, but managed to suppress it.

_Of all the stupid things... You'd better take the lead getting us out of here._

That was her voice. He hadn't realized they would be able to talk so directly.

_**I'm sorry.** I didn't know what else-_  
_No, it's fine. It **was** the most likely plan to succeed... Just get us out of here._

Connor squeezed her hand, and then glanced down, noting the blue lights with interest. He felt a surge of something he couldn't identify from her, then she activated her own undercover programming and they released their hands in unison to look at Lewis.

"All done?" he asked, beaming at them.

"Correct," Connor said. The link was muted now that they weren't touching. That was probably good. Giddy relief boiled up in him, washing the dread away. It had **_worked_**.

| LEVEL OF STRESS: 34% |

"Alright! Connor, Alex, your first task is to report back to the DPD. Connor, I expect you to make sure the Lieutenant actually _reads_ his email this time," Lewis started. Connor suppressed a flinch at the mention of the Lieutenant, but snorted, and Lewis looked amused. Connor _still_ didn't know if Anderson had actually read the packet that he was sent regarding the RK8 series.

"Alex, you take good care of Connor for us," Lewis said with a smile, tablet in his lap. "He got destroyed somehow and we have no idea where he ended up, so your primary objective is to make sure that doesn't happen again."

"Of course," Alex replied, her face neutral but her tone just slightly offended. Lewis' grin widened.

"Cool. Okay, off you go kiddies. Play nice."


End file.
